T/N: Potato is an alias of Vesper. Since her identity is now exposed, she will now be referred to as Vesper.
The daytime sun was as bright as ever.
The sea breeze blew across the beach, gently lifting the hair of the girl who was likely the Saintess of the Abyss.
The beautiful young girl squatted beside a Starfolk corpse, taking small bites of a hunk of flesh and blood that was hard to distinguish as either plant or animal.
Hmm.
Was that... a sea anemone?
Fluorescent green juice squirted out from the flesh, yet it didn't soil Potato's pristine white clothes, leaving only a few droplets on her cheek.
Instead, it gave that overly pure face a touch of mortal warmth.
Cecia pushed herself up and stared at the girl's back as she ate.
Potato actually looked quite cute while eating.
It would have been even better if what she was eating were a bit more normal.
Except...
That obviously wasn't what was truly on Cecia's mind right now.
She already knew Potato's identity.
But knowing was one thing.
Exposing it to her face was another entirely.
The Abyss Cult didn't exactly enjoy a great reputation in the outside world.
Not to mention that the girl before her was likely among the highest-ranking figures in the entire Abyss Cult.
If she brought it up directly...
Would Potato kill her to silence her?
Cecia didn't know.
There were simply too many secrets surrounding the girl before her.
Vesper, who was mid-chew, seemed to notice her gaze.
Her movements suddenly halted.
“Miss Nightingale.”
Her voice was as soft as ever.
Only, compared to her usual sweet and gentle tone, it carried an undefinable, ethereal quality this time.
“I know you have a lot of questions right now.”
Vesper didn't turn around.
“It's fine.”
“At least here, no one will come looking for us just because we know each other.”
Cecia frowned slightly.
For some reason, the moment Vesper spoke those words, Cecia vaguely felt something around them quiver gently.
It wasn't mana.
Nor was it the Abyss.
It was closer to a connection originating from the depths of the soul.
It was as if this portion of the Spirit Realm itself was silently echoing the girl's words.
Cecia couldn't touch it, yet she could clearly feel it.
Like a thin string suddenly connecting their fates.
“Are you really someone from the Abyss...” Cecia paused. “...or some other kind of heretic?”
There were quite a few things in this world capable of devouring abyssal energy.
She still didn't dare draw a definitive conclusion.
Vesper swallowed the fluorescent green flesh in her mouth.
Then she turned around.
“I'm not a heretic,” the girl earnestly corrected her. “We of the Abyss are actually orthodox.”
“...”
Well.
That certainly sounded like something someone from the Abyss Church would say.
Vesper lowered her head again.
Munch, munch.
Good grief.
When on earth was she ever going to get full?
Cecia subconsciously touched 【Starhunter】 strapped to her thigh.
Its edge had already been chipped in several places.
She had never killed a human.
At least, not since coming to this world.
Besides, Potato had saved her last night.
The hand gripping the hilt tightened slightly, then slowly loosened.
“Miss Nightingale won't make a move,” Vesper said suddenly, her mouth full.
Cecia froze for a moment.
“You trust me that much?”
“Mm.” Vesper nodded. “Because Miss Nightingale is very similar to me.”
“In what way?”
“We're both people whom others fear.”
Vesper spoke naturally, as if simply stating the most mundane matter.
“Last night, after those Starfolk started singing, Miss Nightingale's heart was beating very fast.”
Cecia fell silent.
She obviously understood what Vesper meant.
If Vesper hadn't hugged her from behind, if those pale arms hadn't soothed her agitated soul, God only knew what kind of chaotic commotion the things left behind by the Blazing Sun would have caused.
Cecia looked at her for a long moment.
In the end, she decided to stop beating around the bush.
“Are you a Saintess?”
Vesper's movements visibly paused.
Then, she smiled.
“That's right. That's more like it.” Potato seemed to really appreciate Cecia's straightforward questioning. “Because we're friends, Miss Nightingale can ask whatever she wants.”
She picked up another piece of flesh.
“That's right. I am the Saintess of the Abyss Cult.”
The corner of Cecia's mouth twitched.
Even though she had already guessed it, hearing her admit it in person still felt entirely different.
“Can you really just tell me something like that so casually?”
“Usually, no,” Vesper answered quickly.
“What about now?”
“Now I can tell Miss Nightingale a little bit.”
“Why?”
Vesper thought for a moment. “Because this is the Spirit Realm.”
And then she said nothing more.
“...”
Finish explaining, would you?!
Cecia really wanted to press further, but seeing that Vesper didn't look like she was intentionally keeping her in suspense, she gave up.
Forget it.
Potato had always talked like this anyway.
Cecia didn't speak Vesper's true name out loud either.
In the Spirit Realm, names themselves held power.
Exposing one's own true name so casually was dangerous enough, let alone speaking the name of a companion.
At least on this point, Cecia wasn't willing to put her friend at risk.
She glanced at the Starfolk corpses littering the ground, and suddenly remembered another, more important matter.
“Speaking of which...”
“Potato.”
“Hmm?”
“Why are you so set on guarding this beach?”
Vesper's chewing slowed slightly.
Cecia continued, “You clearly could have just left last night. These Starfolk weren't coming for you either. Yet you stayed there the whole time.”
Vesper didn't answer right away.
The sea waves crashed onto the shore with a rush, then receded again.
Only after a good while did she speak.
“Because I have to hold this place.”
“Hold where?”
“The beach.”
“For how long?”
Vesper held up three fingers stained with green juice. “Three days.”
Cecia froze for a second.
“Three days?”
“Mm.”
“You just need to prevent the Starfolk from crossing the beach?”
“More or less.” Vesper tilted her head. “At least, that's as much as I know.”
Cecia fell silent for a moment.
So that was why.
No wonder.
Ever since last night, Vesper hadn't actively pursued any fleeing Starfolk.
Even though she clearly possessed the ability to drag all those creatures into the shadows, she had never strayed too far from the coastline.
Because she didn't need to kill them all in the first place.
She only needed to hold the line.
“That's not so bad then.” Cecia breathed a sigh of relief.
Vesper looked over at her. “What about Miss Nightingale?”
“Me?”
“Mm. Miss Nightingale must have something she has to complete by coming here too, right?”
Cecia didn't answer immediately.
Before her eyes floated lines of text that only she could see:
【Hunt】
【An Adventurer's Professionalism】
【A Decisive Battle to the Death】
To be honest, there wasn't a single hint. It was entirely up to her to guess. What a truly responsible task description.
Cecia let out a sigh. “I need to find something.”
“What thing?”
“I don't know.”
“?”
“Don't look at me like that. I really don't know.” Cecia threw up her hands. “These Starfolk can't be crawling onto the shore time after time for no reason. There has to be something driving them. My mission is probably to find that thing.”
She paused, her finger lightly tapping the hilt of 【Starhunter】. “And then kill it.”
Vesper nodded thoughtfully. “Miss Nightingale's task sounds more troublesome than mine.”
“I think so too.”
One only needed to hold out for three days.
The other didn't even know who she was supposed to kill.
How could the difference between two people be so vast?
Cecia suddenly felt a bit envious of Potato.
However, at least one thing was certain: what the two of them needed to do didn't conflict. In fact, it could be said that they were perfectly positioned to help each other.
Vesper would be in charge of blocking whatever came from the sea, while she would be responsible for finding out why things kept crawling out of the ocean.
“Then it's a deal.” Cecia extended her hand to Vesper. “For these three days, I'll help you find the source. And you help me keep those damn things from tearing the town apart.”
Vesper looked down at the hand stretched out in front of her, seeming a bit puzzled as to what this gesture meant.
After a few seconds, she tentatively placed her hand in Cecia's.
“Okay.”
It was icy cold.
Cecia gave it a brief squeeze before letting go.
“Alright then. Go back to eating. Just remember to leave half of the corpses for me.”
“Why?”
“I have a use for them.”
“Oh.”
Vesper obediently squatted back down and went right back to gorging herself.
“...”
Cecia watched her silently.
Then, she also began walking along the beach, picking up the scattered remains of the Starfolk piece by piece.
One portion she gave to Potato, and the other portion she stacked to the side.
Soon, a rather impressive little hill was built up.
What was this for?
【Burnt Offering】, of course.
So many Starfolk had died last night; she couldn't just let them go to waste.
Dawn and Dusk probably wasn't a picky eater, right?
Although these things looked revolting, they still counted as spiritual creatures at least.
The more Cecia thought about it, the more sensible it felt.
Mm-hmm.
She really was a responsible mother.
It definitely wasn't because she wanted to see if she could coax a bit of...
Ahem.
...obtain a reasonable blessing from the god.
Definitely not.
Cecia continued rummaging through the Starfolk corpses.
Busy slaughtering them last night, she hadn't noticed, but now that she had truly calmed down, she realized these things reeked to high heaven.
A foul stench of fishy brine, the smell of rotting plants, and the stench of some unknown animal's entrails were all mixed together.
Cecia nearly threw up her breakfast.
She stole a glance at Vesper beside her.
The girl was still eating with relish.
“...”
Dammit.
Does she really have some weird eating habit?
Just as Cecia was thinking that, Vesper suddenly stopped.
“Miss Nightingale.”
“What is it now?”
“This one doesn't taste good.”
Cecia rolled her eyes. “It'd be weird if what you're eating actually tasted good.”
“It's different.” Vesper frowned, looking down at the chunk in her hand. “This isn't a Starfolk.”
“What?”
“On the outside, it is.” Vesper extended a finger and gently poked the mass of flesh. “On the inside, it isn't.”
The expression on Cecia's face slowly faded.
She stepped closer.
It really was somewhat different.
Starfolk devoured tissues from other living creatures and then mimicked their structures. Therefore, finding fur, scales, or even human-like tissue inside that mutated flesh wasn't particularly strange in itself.
However, this piece...
Cecia drew 【Starhunter】, its blade chipped in several places, and squatted down.
The tip of the blade sliced bit by bit along the gap between the thick carapaces.
The plant fibers on the outside severed, and the pink muscle tissue was pushed to both sides.
Right after that, what was revealed inside froze Cecia in her tracks.
It wasn't tissue mimicked by the Starfolk.
It was something that truly belonged to a human.
Rate on N.U.
